Winter Wonderland
by Yunami The Dragon
Summary: A collection of one-shots featuring the rare quiet moments in Nerima. Romance, with a bit of humor tossed in for fun.
1. Moonlight

Winter Wonderland  
  
A winter evening. There is frost on all the windowpanes, a bite in the air, and a light dusting of snow on the ground. In a moonlit park, two figures sit together on a bench, gazing out at the snowy forest around them. They sit together, sharing a bench, yet slightly apart. If one were to look upon their faces, one would see that each is carefully not looking at the other. Finally, the girl speaks.  
  
"I've always loved winter. Everyone else complains about how cold it is, but I don't see it that way. It's beautiful, as if everything has been covered in white icing, then dusted with diamonds."  
  
"I've never envisioned you as the type to appreciate aesthetic values. Still, the season does seem to suit you."  
  
A short, brittle laugh. "Why? Because I'm cold?"  
  
The young man looks taken aback. "Not at all. I meant no insult. Winter has a sort of beauty in mine eyes as well. Even the smallest icicle, clinging resolutely to a gutter, has a sparkling elegance all its own.  
  
An eyebrow arches delicately. "You consider me elegant?"  
  
"Very much so. Elegant, charming, and graceful. The definition of nobility and beauty."  
  
"What about my sisters? They, surely, are far more attractive than I." The girl's voice has taken on a more playful tone.  
  
"No. True, they have their own attractions, of a sort. The lovely Akane. She is a fire raging out of control, hot, fierce, and strong. Her affections, to the one who might win them, would be passionate and protective, as a tigress defending mate and cubs."  
  
"Kasumi?"  
  
"She has charm. Womanly, gentle, fragile. Her love would be a feather's touch, gently guiding husband and children."  
  
"And I?"  
  
"Cool, elegant, poised. Neither fierce nor gentle, you reset somewhere between. You go from smoldering and argumentative to cool and passive in hardly the time needed to blink. Some might call you a maiden of ice, but they have never looked deep enough to see the spirit and fire waiting always within."  
  
"And you have?"  
  
"Indeed."  
  
She is silent, digesting these revelations. Finally, she gives up trying to comprehend the workings of her companions mind. She leans against him, and the moon shines tranquilly down; bestowing understanding, a touch of romance, and a moment of peace in the never-ending carnival of life.  
  
And the young couple sits, leaning against one another and gazing at the silver orb. Lost in their own private winter wonderland.  
  
//Gone away  
  
Is the bluebird.  
  
Here to stay  
  
Is the new bird.  
  
He sings a love song,  
  
As we go along,  
  
Walking in a  
  
Winter Wonderland.// 


	2. Snowman

Snowman  
  
"Come on, Ranma! Let's build a snowman." Akane Tendo tugged impatiently at her fiancé's arm. "I'm comin', I'm coming." The pigtailed martial artist, Ranma Saotome, was bundled up beyond recognition. He could barely be recognized under all the clothes. Three pairs of pants, four shirts, a hat, a scarf, and boots and an overcoat (borrowed from Mr. Tendo) reduced Ranma's usual breakneck bounce to a cumbersome waddle. "What the heck do you need all those clothes for anyway? It's not *that* cold!" "I don't wanna get wet." "I wouldn't worry," Nabiki observed dryly on her way to the kitchen. Sighing, Ranma allowed himself to be towed out into the walled garden. Being careful to avoid the spot where he knew the Koi pond to be, he followed Akane across the yard to the spot she had declared perfect for a snowman. The couple gathered huge armfuls of snow into a large mound, which they then shaped into a huge ball. Ranma rolled another, slightly smaller ball around the yard, gathering snow until it was the right size, the carefully settled it atop the first. Akane painstakingly formed the head, and stood to balance it on the body, anchoring it with more snow so it wouldn't roll off. Ranma went in to get a carrot from Kasumi, while Akane collected buttons for eyes and a smile. When it was done, they stood back to admire their work. The day was fading, and in the dusklight the young couple stood, mittened hands clasped, and gazed at their masterpiece. "You know," Akane said at last, "This is the first time we've done something together without one of your fiancées interrupting us." "Yeah." He nodded. She smiled. They leaned towards one another. They entered the house at dinnertime, rosy cheeked and with smiles on their faces.  
  
In the meadow we can build a snowman, And pretend that he is Parson Brown. He'll say, "Are ya married?" We'll say, "No, man, But you can do the job when you're in town."  
  
~Finis~ 


End file.
